some countries that recently discovered oil reserves are liberia, sierra leone, mozambique. not long ago, they were all embroiled in deadly conflicts. their political situations are still fragile. so these need support to ensure that their energy resources don't end up causing more suffering and trouble than good. so the united states is working with eight new oil and gas producing countries to put into place the building blocks of good governance, including political institutions, transparent finances, and effective laws and regulations. in uganda, for example, we're helping the government adopt strong environmental protection laws and regulations because of oil and gas development is happening in ecologically fragile areas. we're also increasing our support for the extractive industries and transparency initiative, an international program that promotes transparency and accountability in the oil-gas and mining industries. a year ago, president obama announced that the united states joined this organization as a signal of our commitment to this issue and we are only the sec